This section provides background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the disclosure. It should be understood that the statements in this section of this document are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
A blowout preventer is a large, specialized valve used to seal, control and monitor oil and gas wells. Blowout preventers are designed to cope with extreme erratic pressures and uncontrolled flow emanating from a well during drilling. Pressure kicks can lead to the uncontrolled release of oil and/or gas from a well resulting in a potentially subsea well event known as a blowout. Blowout preventers are critical to the safety of crew, equipment and environment, and to the monitoring and maintenance of well integrity. While blowout preventers are intended to be fail-safe devices, accidents may still occur if the blowout preventer fails to properly operate. For example, during the Apr. 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion, it is believed that the blowout preventers may not have properly operated and/or were not activated in a timely fashion. In addition to loss of well control the wellhead equipment was damaged creating obstacles to recovering control of the well.